Abstract

A wide-ranging critique of the representation of memory and especially nostalgia - a condition commonly dismissed, yet which links people across personal, national and historical boundaries. Analysing the narratives of those entangled in the aftermath of empire, the author traces the hidden connections within their yearnings for a common identity and a homeland, and their struggles to recover lost histories. Considering writers as varied as V.S. Naipaul, Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie, Doris Lessing, Antjie Krog, W.G. Sebald and J.G. Ballard, the author explores the ambiguous paths of nostalgia in the modern world.